Cancer Treatment Today

Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin is currently approved in the U.S. for the treatment of  platinum-refractory metastatic ovarian cancer and AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma.DOXIL (doxorubicin hcl liposome injection) in combination with bortezomib is indicated for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have not previously received bortezomib and have received at least one prior therapy. It is also has been evaluated in several other tumor

The issue of continuing Herceptin is complex but there is little firm evidence to support this practice. The current practice is supported solely by a retrospective chart review of 1000 women presented in 2002. However, NCCN currently on p. BINV-20 of its 2011 breast cqncer guideline says in a note that continuing trastuzumab after progression on first-line therapy is a option. Optimal duration is unknown. Whether to continue trastuzumab after objective

Prophylactic total or simple mastectomy, not subcutaneous mastectomy, for patients at high risk of breast cancer is a difficult issue in that it involves the determination of risk in an individual patient, a separate determination of what level of risk is high enough to justify the extreme choice of prophylactic mastectomy, and assurance from scientific studies in the medical literature that this procedure does result in a reduction of breast cancer

Most studies of oxaliplatin in advanced ovarian cancer have been conducted after relapse, or in patients refractory to other platinum compounds. Oxaliplatin monotherapy in this patient population produced response rates ranging from 16 to 27%. Missetti et al showd in 2000 that response rates were similar to those obtained with paclitaxel monotherapy (16 vs 17%). Guidelines from NCCN state that oxaliplatin is an acceptable alternative chemotherapeutic

Prolia or Zometa can be used for prevention or treatment of Osteoporosis1. , Osteoporosis is often a comorbid condition in patients with breast cancer. The antineoplastic therapy for breast cancer can itself have adverse effects on bone. Chemotherapy can have direct negative effects on bone mineral density, as can the glucocorticoids used as antiemetics and premedications. Adjuvant chemotherapy can cause premature menopause and increased risk for

cCapecitabine (Xeloda®; Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, NJ) is an orally administered fluoropyrimidine carbamate used to treat breast and colorectal cancer. Readily absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, capecitabine is metabolized by the enzyme carboxylesterase in the liver, where it is converted to 5' deoxy-5-fluorocytidine (5' DFCR), which is then converted by the enzyme cytidine deaminase to 5' deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5' DFUR). As a result,

Recurrent ovarian cancer is a difficult clincal problem; fortunately, a number of options are available. For patients whose disease is platinum-refractory (i.e., with disease that has progressed while on a platinum regimen or that has recurred shortly after completion of a platinum-containing regimen), treatment with paclitaxel (Taxol) historically provided the first agent with consistent activity in these patients and should be considered. Other

Whether chemotherapy or endocrine therapy is better for premenopausal women in the adjuvant setting remains an open question. An older study demonstrated that, as adjuvant treatment for node-negative or node-positive, ER+ breast cancer, combination tamoxifen/goserelin treatment reduced the number of recurrences when compared with 6 cycles of CMF in premenopausal women. Most significant was the decrease in local recurrence associated with tamoxifen/goserelin.

Chemotherapy remains a mainstay in the treatment of breast cancer. Anthracyclines and taxanes are two classes of chemotherapy agents that are commonly used to treat breast cancer. Because treatment options are limited for patients whose cancer recurs following use of anthracyclines and taxanes, researchers continue to evaluate newer and different chemotherapy combinations in an effort to improve the duration of survival for these patients. According

Recent evidence has put TCH on par with other standard adjuvant regimens. Previously two independent phase II studies have shown that this combination of carboplatin and docetaxel (Taxotere®; Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Bridgewater, NJ) is active in the first-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Based on these promising results of combining trastuzumab with chemotherapy, nonanthracycline alternatives were investigated, with many of them